PerreaultForever

With a .441 win percentage only Columbus is below us in the East. Trust the process.

No, I am saying some teams let you play the way you want to play, some teams play the same style, and some teams DON'T let you play the way you want to. We have been abysmal against teams that do not let us play the way we want to (like Boston). I think the scouting reports from last year have been studied more that's all. I'm sure if we stay near the bottom we will once again run into some teams taking us lightly and we will do well in those games. This has gone on for years. The Sabres have never reached a point in this decade plus where they DICTATE the way games are played.

That is exactly what I meant about farm teams but that's also why most of them teach defense at the AHL level. As for the first part, yes, that's why what we do is backwards as I've said repeatedly. You can't add a (complex) defensive system easily on top of a wide open offensive system. You start with simple basics and when they can cover for each other, get in lanes, block shots, etc etc then you impose an offensive game on top of that. If the defensive foundation is in place first you don't need the white boards when you add a wrinkle for a specific opponent.

Not much to say. They played better than they did against Boston BUT Winnipeg looks like an easier team to play against. They aren't going anywhere with that but no matter, Sabres gave it effort. Ultimately it's all summed up by the inexcusably bad 3rd Winnipeg goal. That was laughable. The ref whining has me scratching my head.

Well there's no disagreement there but my point would be why didn't we start on that this year? Should have ditched Olofsson before the season started. Should not have signed KO. EJ I have no issue with as it's a temp vet signing and Clifton seemed like good value but I think my fears on what might happen with him have happened unfortunately. Jost was a waiver guy. Why did they ever think he'd be anything? Free agency could simply have been better this year, it wasn't, and now we pay the price.

idk, seemed to work out for Cassidy. Depends on the players I think and how well you teach the system(s). This sort of alludes to the old Risto is dumb argument and I think we had an is Dahlin dumb one as well. Anyway, you don't succeed by just going out and playing free. There has to be a system and in some cases it is fairly complex and requires time to learn. They should have a system as a mirror version in Rochester as well.

You didn't answer the point though. Nobody is arguing that there is talent on the roster and there is potential in the prospects. That's not the point. Your comment was that the Rangers, Carolina, etc. were paying the price for trading away picks and I said look at the standings. Then you said that was regular season and didn't count, playoffs mattered and you alluded to this team being built for the playoffs to which I said prove that. Cause we AREN'T. If there was ever a team being built for the regular season and playoff failure, this is it. Playoff success requires great goaltending, solid defense and physicality and grit along with some scoring talent (and ideally a good PP) . That is not the Sabres and there is no sign that that will be the Sabres in the future either. Hence I said prove it. Saying that we will be bad for 3-4 years is a ridiculously low bar and it comes along with zero guarantees of future success. Why should WE as fans have to wait that long when other teams do it faster? These sort of low bar apologetics make no sense at all. I do agree we've been mismanaged though. I think we still are being mismanaged, and I think it comes right from the top (TP). The proof is in what actually happens, not in future forecasts, maybes and prospects. None of that matters until it becomes wins on the ice. Fool me once shame on shame on won't get fooled again.

Are fires still the top local news story every night? I remember that from my youth when I turned the news on to see game highlights and the Sabres commentary/interview bits they used to have especially on the Sunday version. Young people missed out on the Aud. That place was a delightful hole. Springsteen there before Christmas was amazing. The snow piles outside also blew my mind. You get so much more snow then we did just an hour (or less) up the road. My favourite Buffalo memory was after Canada got those hostages out. Buffalo people bought us all free drinks all night long just because we were Canadian. That was crazy. In general, going over the border to hit the bars in Buffalo was always fun. Way way back in the day.

I have not seen a single Jets game this year or even highlights so I have no idea how they play. Are they still a heavy team? I saw a Lowry fight video, that's it for the Jets so far this year. Last year they were kind of lazy and thus inconsistent as hell. All I can say for sure is we have to be better than we were against Boston that's for sure.

Too many Cowboys fans in this thread. You all must leave 🙂

We do? What exactly? Prove it.

Those two things don't directly correlate either. Did you know that incidences of rape have a direct correlation to ice skate sales? True fact. Stats are a funny funny thing.

I grew up in Hamilton and am out on the west coast now so I have no geography holding me to Buffalo. The Hamilton Tiger Cats were my first team (CFL football) and that spilled over to the Steelers in the 70s because they were also a Steel City and wore the same colours. Also, at that time, both had tough D identities which reflected the city mindset. Got into hockey slowly and it was Bruins first (same colours again and Bobby Orr and they were not the Leafs or Habs) and then local tv from Buffalo got me hooked on the Sabres, French Connection. I did have a sympathic leaning towards the Bills and did want them to beat Dallas etc. Really liked Bruce Smith and Tasker and some of their other grittier football guys. but my allegiance in other sports drifts towards teams that play the way I like or think is the better way to play. These days I'm starting to think I should have ditched the Sabres when I moved west some 22 years ago.

I do remember in his early years here he stated something about liking fast wide open games with lots of goal scoring. How extreme that position is idk, but it has been the idea we've followed to a large extent. As well, I'm not sure he hates fighting, but I doubt he's a fan of it. But that's only a side issue. Not the main point.

That does NOT mean we are playing better D. It can simply mean opposing teams are playing more defensively against us. Also, it is a copycat league and there is more defensive hockey all over because of Florida vs. Vegas in the final. Quite a few teams playing tighter and more disciplined hockey than last year. The paradigm has shifted back a little.

Where is the evidence of the bolded part? I certainly have not seen it.

They are easier to find but for some reason we don't want them (TP) . There have been guys waived this year that are better than what we have. Steen on Boston's 4th line for example has been waived twice. There's lots of options if you want to go find them. KA doesn't cause Terry don't like that type of hockey. This is the conclusion I have come to. Nothing else makes sense as KA knows better inside. His own personal experience as a player is right there as an example.

What is this ANOTHER KA post? It's a good argument EXCEPT (to the bold) Rangers and Panthers are doing very well (1st and 2nd in their divisions respectively) and Leafs and Carolina are still in playoff positions and then there's Boston to consider further. Remind me, how many of their own draft picks did Vegas have winning the cup? (I'll wait..............) Those are the cold hard facts, not some half baked theory of development. You do realize, at this point, that we traded Eichel for Tuch. Now I like Tuch. I'm glad he's a Sabre and imo he should have been named captain before this season BUT until the picks actually become something, all we got worth talking about was Tuch. Ponder it. We've become nothing more than a development/farm team for the rest of the league.

So what is Boston Mordor then? Is Marchand Sauron or Gollum? Seems to me Eichel left the shire and got the ring to rule them all.

Kulich and Rosen aren't bottom end role players. They are top end prospects. I'm not 100% sure about Kulich but Rosen would be absolutely useless lined up against 4th liners and the usual physicality they bring. Murray is a big nothing. He doesn't use his size so he's useless at the NHL level.

i, 2 doesn't matter. What matters is how you line up against the opposing match up. They want to roll 4 lines and this roster makes that a stupid philosophy. So imo you want Benson against Perfetti and not Connor.

Ya I don't buy this block the prospects thing. Aren't you supposed to provide competition and make the road more of a struggle they have to fight through and earn their spots? Isn't that part of development as well. Not to mention veteran leadership. I don't understand their whole approach, and it's definitely not what other teams do.

What about people saying the same thing year after year about their team and unfortunately being right about it year after year, what do those people do? When is the fracture point final? Or is this hockey hell?

We need solid role players in the bottom 6 and as I understand it, we don't have any in Rochester. We don't have any anywhere.

They beat Boston in OT. They beat Carolina, Pittsburgh and Vegas. I'm not trying to suggest the Ducks are actually any good. They're not. But they were expected to be bad and in full rebuild. We were expected to push for a playoff spot. So scoffing at the Ducks when your own team is floundering is just plain dumb.